Automatic connectors are known and used to splice together strands and wires and mount strands and wires in dead-end applications. Such automatic connectors are provided with a tube that has a taper and a circular opening, clamping members with teeth disposed within the tube, and a spring. The spring biases the clamping members towards the circular opening in the tube. During installation, a strand or wire is inserted through the circular opening, pushing the clamping members axially within the tube until the strand or wire separates the clamping members to extend between the clamping members thereby beginning to engage the teeth.
Though such automatic connectors have been generally adequate, they suffer from certain limitations that require strict adherence to installation instructions. One of those installation instructions includes the need to insert fully a strand or wire beyond the clamping members in order to achieve complete engagement of all of the clamping members' teeth. To ensure that any strand or wire is fully inserted, it is often necessary to measure the strand or wire against the connector to know the proper length that must be inserted. Once this proper length is determined, the strand or wire is marked with tape and inserted into the automatic connector up to the taped marking.
Under difficult outdoor conditions (rain or ice storms), it is not unusual for users to dispense with proper installation techniques, such as marking strands with tape. As a result, the strand or wire may not be inserted past the clamping members with the result that the teeth are not fully engaged or the guide cup does not pass through the clamping members, preventing them from properly gripping the wire. Because the teeth begin to engage the strand or wire and because the degree of engagement is hidden within the tube, users cannot distinguish between complete and incomplete engagement of the clamping members teeth. When the teeth of the clamping members are not fully engaged, the strand or wire may be pulled out of the connector resulting in significant personal injury or damage to property.
Consequently, there has been a long-felt need for an automatic connector that enables users to know whether a sufficient length of a strand or wire has been inserted within the connector to engage fully the teeth on the clamping members. The present invention meets this long-felt need with multiple solutions: first by preventing the clamping members from engaging unless the strand or wire is fully inserted axially past the clamping members, and second, in an alternative embodiment, by providing with an indicator that signals to the user that complete insertion (and hence full engagement with the teeth) has been achieved. Other advantages will be apparent in the following written description.